Lau Chan
Lau Chan (born October 2, 1940; China)http://virtuafighter.com/vf4/lau/ is a fictional Chinese character in the video game series Virtua Fighter. A leading Chinese chef, a master of the legendary wushu style Koen-Ken (Or Tiger Swallow Fist) and the father of Pai Chan although the two share a strained relationship. He is from Shandong Province, Northern China. Currently (and ever since Virtua Fighter 4), Lau has suffered from a rare illness which cannot be cured. This illness does not seem to hamper his Koen-Ken techniques or his ability to fight although he is seen coughing in one of his pre-fight animations and, in Virtua Fighter 5 R, one of his idle animations. Lau was the winner of the first World Fighting Tournament. Story Virtua Fighter A quiet man, he nevertheless has an air of resourcefulness and skill seen only in those skilled in the art of Koen-Ken. His cold appearance belies a gentle nature. He achieved one of his life's ambitions when he was awarded the Grand Prix at the world's most renowned competition for Chinese chefs. As a perfectionist by nature, he enters the World Fighting Tournament to achieve absolute mastery over the Tiger Swallow Fist style. Virtua Fighter 2 He was the strongest fighter and winner of the First World Tournament. This made him happy as his martial arts school was looking for a successor and the requirement was for him to win the Tournament. After the First Tournament, he retreated to the mountains to train and develop new techniques to improve his ultimate art. He is taking part in the Second World Fighting Tournament using advanced Koen-Ken techniques. Virtua Fighter 3 Shortly after losing the 2nd tournament to Akira by only the tiniest of margins, Lau received word that his restaurant was in a dire financial situation. For a while, Lau returned to its kitchen in an attempt to revive his once famous restaurant. When he received an invitation to the 3rd tournament, Lau left the kitchen in the hands of his best apprentice, and began the preparations for his journey. They say a thin smile appeared on his lips... Virtua Fighter 4 In the last tournament, Lau lost to Kage. Dejected, he went back to push his skills to another level. However, he finds out that he has a rare illness that cannot be cured. He then decides there must be a successor to his Tiger Swallow Fist style. However, he has been unable to find a proper successor worthy of this forbidden lineage. When he hears of the 4th world tournament, he decides to join the tournament, hoping to find a suitable student. Virtua Fighter 5 A master of the Koen-Ken style, Lau found a worthy opponent in the Fourth World Fighting Tournament in Lei-Fei. The young fighter thirsted for all of Lau's knowledge and was obedient to his new master. However, while they were training, Lei-Fei suddenly turned on him and Lau barely survived in his weakened state. About the same time, Lau's only daughter, Pai Chan, also disappeared. Though he had abandoned her long ago, he realized that their bond was still intact, but with death rapidly approaching, he felt he had no choice but to disappear from her life again. He withdrew to what he thought was a secret hideaway when mysteriously he received an invitation to the Fifth World Fighting Tournament. Other Media Virtua Fighter Anime Pai's estranged father, Lau wanted her to marry Ryu Kowloon so that there would be a successor to the Koenkan. However, right after he left Koenkan, Ryu Kowloon immediately abused of his power, giving troubles to Akira and his friends, along with other innocent people, also he wanted to kill his master. When Lau Chan realizes it, with the help of his master, Shun Di he interrupts the fake marriage between Pai (who has been forced, after being hypnotized by Eva Durix) and Ryu Kowloon, as he wants to punish him for abusing of the Koenkan. He later helps Pai, Akira and the others to defeat Eva's Dural robot. Lau was voiced by Shigeru Chiba in Japanese and by Thomas Bruning in English. Trivia *Lau won the first World Fighting Tournament. *Currently (and ever since Virtua Fighter 4), Lau has suffered from a rare illness which cannot be cured. This illness does not seem to hamper his Koen-Ken techniques or his ability to fight although he is seen coughing in one of his pre-fight animations. *Lau is the only character in the Virtua Fighter series to have noticeably aged. Whether this is a symptom of his illness or just natural aging is unknown. *Although he is from China and his native language is Chinese, due to the game's Japanese origin, he speaks Japanese and is voiced by Shigeru Chiba. *Lau's new-founded rivalry with Lei-Fei and revived relationship with his daughter Pai is briefly shown in the Version B Intro of Virtua Fighter 5. *Lau's defeats in the Second and Third World Tournaments were both to the eventual winners of the respective tournaments, Akira and Kage. Lau, Akira and Kage make up the winners of the tournaments so far. Gallery Lau VF1.jpg|''Virtua Fighter'' VF Remix Lau.png|''Virtua Fighter Remix'' VFRemix Lau Mirror.png|''Virtua Fighter Remix'' Lau VF2P.jpg|''Virtua Fighter 2'' Lau VF2.gif|''Virtua Fighter 2'' VF2 Lau Mirror.png|''Virtua Fighter 2'' Lau Congrats 1.png|''Virtua Fighter 2'' congratulations screen Lau Congrats 2.png|''Virtua Fighter 2'' alternate congratulations screen Klau-1.jpg|''Virtua Fighter Kids'' VFKids Lau Mirror.png|''Virtua Fighter Kids'' Lau Chan anime.jpg|With Pai in the first Opening of Virtua Fighter Anime lau-sh.jpg|''Virtua Fighter CG Portraits'' lau-ready.gif|''Virtua Fighter 3'' lauv.jpg|''Virtua Fighter 3'' VF3 Lau Mirror.jpg|''Virtua Fighter 3'' LauVF4.jpg|''Virtua Fighter 4'' VFQ Lau.jpg|''Virtua Quest'' LauVF5.jpg|''Virtua Fighter 5'' lau-o1.gif|''Virtua Fighter 5'' Costume A lau-o2.gif|''Virtua Fighter 5'' Costume B lau-o3.gif|''Virtua Fighter 5'' Costume C lau-o4.gif|''Virtua Fighter 5'' Costume D Lau E.jpg|''Virtua Fighter 5 R'' Costume E Lau S.jpg|''Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown'' Costume S References Category:Characters Category:VF1 Characters Category:VF2 Characters Category:VF3 Characters Category:VF4 Characters Category:VF4E Characters Category:VF5 Characters Category:VF5R Characters Category:Chinese Characters Category:Male Characters